Best St. Petersburg day trips? Need your advice!
Feb 23rd, 2014, 10:40 AM
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Best St. Petersburg day trips? Need your advice!
I'm planning my trip to St. Petersburg this coming July, and will have 4 days there. Are there any day trips you'd recommend? If so, can I do them by train on my own, or would you suggest booking a tour? Any help is appreciated!
Feb 23rd, 2014, 11:09 AM
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Peter the Great's summer palace is a boat ride away from St. Petersburg and we did on our own.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...th/4184966927/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...th/4184966927/
Feb 23rd, 2014, 11:50 AM
#4
The Peterhof, the Catherinehof, the Church on the Spilled Blood, the "fortress" or whatever they call the place where the Romanov remains are interred, the Hermitage.
CRAM CRAM CRAM as much as you possibly can into each and EVERY day and night you are there. You can sleep later.
CRAM CRAM CRAM as much as you possibly can into each and EVERY day and night you are there. You can sleep later.
Feb 23rd, 2014, 12:44 PM
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All good suggestions above. The site for the Romanov remains is the Peter and Paul Fortress.
If you like seeing the tombs of notable composers, writers and others, I would recommend a visit to the cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky monastery at the end of Nevsky Prospekt across the street from the Moskva/Moscow Hotel. Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgosky, Dostoevsky and others are in the same section. Here's a link to the Find A Grave site with more into:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/n34oyz3
Do you speak or read Russian? If not, I heartily recommend spending a little time to familiarize yourself with the Cyrillic alphabet so that you can at least transliterate words.
St. Petersburg is one of the most interesting cities I've ever visited. There's a lot there and you'll get the most out of your visit with some good preparation in advance.
If you like seeing the tombs of notable composers, writers and others, I would recommend a visit to the cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky monastery at the end of Nevsky Prospekt across the street from the Moskva/Moscow Hotel. Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgosky, Dostoevsky and others are in the same section. Here's a link to the Find A Grave site with more into:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/n34oyz3
Do you speak or read Russian? If not, I heartily recommend spending a little time to familiarize yourself with the Cyrillic alphabet so that you can at least transliterate words.
St. Petersburg is one of the most interesting cities I've ever visited. There's a lot there and you'll get the most out of your visit with some good preparation in advance.
Feb 23rd, 2014, 03:33 PM
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Thank you! Great suggestions. It does look like I won't run out of things to experience. I'll definitely get acquainted with the Cyrillic alphabet - thanks for suggesting that, MaineGG, along with the composers/writers at the cemetery. I love music and the arts so that's now on the list.
Jul 23rd, 2014, 10:11 AM
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If you mean day trips to the sites that are not within the city, then the main destinations may be Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk. All of them were former summer residences of Russian tzars, each deserves a separate trip in my opinion and they are quite different from each other.
Peterhof is especially famous for the fountain park, but it functions during the warm time of the year only.
The main attraction in Tsarskoe Selo is the Catherine palace with the Amber room. In my opinion, this site is the most difficult to visit independently as transportation may be not very obvious for a foreigner and even more importantly it's very busy in summer and so it's difficult to get the tickets there. I would probably recommend a guided tour for this one (at least in summer) as tour companies can book tickets in advance.
Pavlovsk is less well known then the places mantioned above, but it has stunning interiors in my opinion and its park is popular among locals ,not only tourists, so it makes the place more "human".
And if you like off the beaten track places, you can check Oranienbaum.
Peterhof is especially famous for the fountain park, but it functions during the warm time of the year only.
The main attraction in Tsarskoe Selo is the Catherine palace with the Amber room. In my opinion, this site is the most difficult to visit independently as transportation may be not very obvious for a foreigner and even more importantly it's very busy in summer and so it's difficult to get the tickets there. I would probably recommend a guided tour for this one (at least in summer) as tour companies can book tickets in advance.
Pavlovsk is less well known then the places mantioned above, but it has stunning interiors in my opinion and its park is popular among locals ,not only tourists, so it makes the place more "human".
And if you like off the beaten track places, you can check Oranienbaum.
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